


Our Secret Place

by HarlotsHouse



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Cannibalism, Growing Up, Hannibal is creepy but in a sweet way, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Murder, Not so imaginary friends, Possessive Behavior, Will and Hannibal are weird children, Will's mom is alive and she is a bad parent, biting to show you care, flashfic #003, homicide staged as a suicide, they care about each other though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:14:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28957776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarlotsHouse/pseuds/HarlotsHouse
Summary: A young Will Graham struggles to fit in a society that doesn't want him. Lucky for him he finds kinship with a boy he finds in the middle of the woods. They grow up together.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 5
Kudos: 153
Collections: Hannibal Flash Fic #003





	Our Secret Place

Water poured from the sky, droplets scattering as if cut through by a scythe. The sound of the pitter-patter was loud and slightly grating but with enough rhythmic tune, like beating drums, that eventually soothed Will's crying to a lull. A rivulet of sweat rolled down the child's forehead, clothes saggy, and drenched, chilling him to his skeleton and causing his teeth to chatter. Lightning split the sky, prompting him to scatter forward, tripping on a large coiling set of roots.

Will dragged himself around them to find a wide opening in a large tree, tendrils of bark and leaves curling around it's wide entrance like decorative framing. He entered the wide hole, curling up inside like a small critter curls up within its underground burrow.

Will didn't know for how long he stayed there but he woke to a loud crunching sound beside him. For a moment all he saw was a blurry disarray of dirt and a dark figure kneeled over a mass of colors on it. Rubbing at his eyes, now crusted over with his dried tears, Will softly groaned, causing the figure beside him to still. Horror dawned at Will as the scene cleared before him.

"What are you?" Will rasped out. Small sharp teeth glared a beam in Will's direction, red eyes gazing at Will in chilling scrutiny.

A long small clawed hand extended towards Will's face, dripping with something Will now recognized as blood. In fact, the whole small critter is covered in it. Will held his breath as a careful claw brushed a few wet curls behind Will's ear.

"Looking for a home." His voice was croaky and dry, as if not used to speaking. "For her and me." Will finally forced himself to look at the other presence beside them.

It's a girl, far younger than him, blonde and wiry framed much as the monster boy beside her. But that wasn't what caused a scream to trap in Will's throat. No, it was the sight of her stomach teared open, guts widely exposed, blood oozing out, that did.

"You're eating her," Will said quietly, beginning to tremble but not from the cold.

"I'm remembering her," the low guttural voice stated. "You like to remember people you care about, no?"

"No," Will declared with all the magnitude an eight year-old could muster. "I don't care about people. I hate people."

"They don't understand you?" the monster boy guessed, curiosity lingering in his clay red eyes. "Or do you not understand them?"

"My..." Will stammered. "My mom says I get in people's heads. She says it's annoying and mean to do. They think loud. It's not my fault they think too loud." Will finished defensively.

"Can you, really?"

"What?"

Lightning flashed outside once more, the light bleaching their skin and hair white for the split second it bathed them.

"Get into people's heads."

"I don't read minds. I only look, looking tells me," Will protested, unsure as to why he felt the urge to defend himself against a monster boy who ate a little girl.

Despite his youth Will knew the boy beside him was far too wise, and far too evil, Will felt sure he'd seen something similar pictured in the bedtime stories his father read him.

Large, all hearing ears, dark ashy skin the color of soot stained with red, and twiddling horns protruding from the base of its head like the tangled wires Will observes his father working with.

"Why does it bother you?" the monster edged closer to Will. Will instinctively tried to scramble back further into the tree burrow.

"Isn't it good that you can tell what people think?"

"No," Will shook his head, face shadowed. "It makes mommy and daddy fight. I think they want to leave me behind."

"If they do, you'll remember them, won't you?"

A small claw wiped the tear rolling down Will's rosy cheek. Small fangs glinted in the moonlight. "So there's nothing to worry about."

And for a moment, the monster's sure voice convinced Will it was true.

...

"Would you eat me?"

"Only if I have to."

"But do you want to?"

"Always." A small grin.

Will frowned in lieu of response. Hannibal's head tilted in question. He always did this, prodded and subtly manipulated Will to get a response. Despite Will being an overall quiet, introverted child he detested prolonged silences mid conversation with Hannibal, a part of him desperate to simultaneously impress and give the cold shoulder to the monster boy. Eventually either Will or Hannibal would cave, though usually it was Will that did, always resented Hannibal as he did. The event was one of their few favorite games to play.

"Why can't we ever play out there?" Will gestured in the direction of the abyss of trees that surrounded their small enclosure.

"I'd be tempted to hunt you," Hannibal responded as he flicked a page of the book Will brought him.

It's full of fairytales, one of many Will's father used to read him before he passed two years previous now. When Will first extended the firm green hardcover over to Hannibal at his arrival to their place, Will'd felt suddenly embarrassed. This was despite the fact that Hannibal himself had asked for it on one occasion Will'd told the former that he resembled the antagonists from the stories. _'Or maybe a faerie.'_ Will had tried to be negotiable, not wanting to offend. _'I like looking like the monsters more.'_ Had been Hannibal's simple response. And that was that.

"Besides," Hannibal set the book momentarily down on his lap to give Will his full attention. "This is _our_ home. There's no need to leave it."

Will ducked his head, cheeks hot and rosy as they always became at any call to attention to their little hideout. It felt secret and special because it was only theirs. "I don't like playing house." Will scrunched up his nose. "Only girls do that."

"We're not playing. And we're not girls." Hannibal shrugged and Will was filled with the urge to strangle him.

Will waited for a moment before pouncing on the monster boy. The book fell to the side. They rolled around, kicking up dirt, hitting and scratching each other, before they both fell on their small backs against the dirt, chests heaving, arms and legs extended like the little star fishes Will'd seen on TV. The laid there in silence, as they often did after their play fights, before the sound of child laughter erupted and filled the hollow space.

...

"Where were you?!" Her grip on his forearm was strong.

"I was playing!" Will struggled to get out of her grasp. Her nails sunk deep into his flesh, branding small crescent moon marks into the sensitive skin.

"You're such a dirty child!" She said as the yellow light hit him, showcasing the degree of his tomfoolery. "Look at you! You're covered in dirt and-"

She paused as she took in the several possessive bites littering his skin. "Who did this?"

Her tone had gone deadly low, flat like a viper's head as it slithered within the brambles before striking.

"My friend, Hannibal," Will muttered, eyes fervently avoiding hers. Not that he needed to look into hers to know exactly what she felt. "We were just playing."

"You don't have any friends, Will," she stated. "Your teacher never fails to remind me what a failure of a mother I am."

"You-you're not a failure," Will protested, knowing that if he let her continue down this vein of thought she'd spiral and drink herself bare. "I promise it's just my friend!"

"You're getting bullied." It's too late now. Her eyes have filmed over with an expression Will knew all to well. "Oh my god you're getting bullied!"

She collapsed in on her self, finally letting go. She sobbed into her hands, slumping against the wall like a wilting flower. "This is all my fault! It's all my fault! I should have- I should have-" incoherent mumbling. "-when I had the chance."

Will watched her with a carefully blank look, should she see him struggle something worse will happen. "Nothing's wrong, mom."

"Everything's wrong! You're a weird child, you creep your classmates and teacher out!" she cried. "You creep _me_ out. I hate you. _God_ , I hate you."

...

"No," Will said with a voice of finality.

Hannibal frowned. He rarely did, his face for the most part remained a blank slate. At times Will was thankful for it, as it provided a shield to Hannibal's thoughts that everyone else didn't have. Other times, however, it annoyed Will to no end. The way they handled their interactions felt like those black and white cartoons, the ones with two animated characters continuously trying to one-up the other, the weapons getting bigger and exaggerated, before the episode ended in a stalemate or with one character sent careening into the sky before it landed in the desert ground, a crater surrounding their body.

A small huff escaped Hannibal's nostrils. Will knew that was the boy's way of saying the conversation was far from over.

"I don't like her."

"I know."

"She should die."

"She's way taller than you, Hannibal."

"That wouldn't stop me," Hannibal said eerily, small fangs peeking out of his lips. Will rolled his eyes at Hannibal with a put-on sigh, the same way he did when Riley (his dog) chased his tail in an endless circle, the event fruitless and Riley never quite getting what he wanted. Will eventually smiled wide, snorting at the thought of Hannibal acting like Riley.

"What's so funny?"

"You bite and scratch me, and always want attention." Will giggled. Hannibal raised a small eyebrow, wordlessly saying 'Obviously. why wouldn't I?'. This only fueled Will's giggles into full on roaring laughter that had him clutching at his sides as he fell against Hannibal's side. "You're just like a dog!"

Hannibal's lips dropped into the shape of a minus sign, gravely offended, and cancelling out Will's humor. Only for said boy to go back into another fit of laughter.

"Would you like me to pet you?" Will said, still on the tail-end of his laughing fit. "My good lil Hannibal-ow!"

Will cradled his wrist to his chest, glaring at Hannibal.

Hannibal's face lacked any remorse.

...

The soft padding of feet bounded down the halls. It's late, well past Will's bedtime, thankfully. Hannibal didn't have much time. Should he accomplish this, everything would fall into place. Will would no longer go a day with a loveless parent who didn't properly care for him. There'd be no more purple mottled bruises for Hannibal to cover with his teeth, or scratches to shield the ones Will's mother created with ill intent. No more of the waspish voices poisoning Will's mind with their lies and insults that held no bearing.

It would all be over at long last.

...

"I'm sorry kid," the officer looked grim. His expression pitying. This only helped in further annoying Will. "There's not much we can do I...do you have any relatives? An aunt? Or an uncle we can take you to?"

Will shook his head. The buzzing of a fly echoed loudly around Will's ear. He could still envision it then, the sight of her pale body draped across her bed, the bottle still in her hand. It'd contained cyanide, Will had overheard from the other officers. They'd ruled it a suicide and beaten around the bush, trying to pull together how they would tell the thirteen year old boy that his mother couldn't handle the very sight of him or deal with his existence. Will Graham would always be known as the boy who drove his mother to take her own life with a quick death elixir.

Will found it fitting that with the same bottle she drank from every waking moment she would too also go out with.

A little too fitting in fact. These police officers might be fooled easily, by the sight of Will's bruises and his closed off demeanor, guessing that Avery Graham was an abuser. But what they didn't know was that though detest Will she did, she loved herself alive more than she loved Will.

Something about the way her body was posed reminded Will of something he'd seen. Something he'd learned about in school and inevitably shown Hannibal hoping to please him. A painting. A regalia of golden hour hues encased the woman posed along white sheets, grapes in her hand as she gazed at the viewer with a peculiar look about her face.

 _"This venus is mourning a lover,"_ Hannibal had said as he read through the analytics of the painting. _"Her full belly hints at a child. She's indulging the grapes like a life line, yearning for a man who will not see the bearing fruit of their love."_

Will frowned, "I don't have anyone."

The police man grimaced.

"I only have Hannibal."

...

Will sat in their spot, arms hugging his knees to his chest. Footsteps drew to a stop in front of him. He lifted his gaze to find Hannibal stood in front of him. Claws and fangs still sharp, only now longer and more dangerous, his skin dark with blood, horns tall and intimidating, and eyes ever just as red.

They stayed silent for a while, speaking with only their eyes. Will wondered when he became so good at reading the microexpressions on the other boy's face.

"It had to be done."

"No, it didn't." Will muttered grimly.

"Your disagreement will disappear over time," Hannibal stated in a sure tone. "You'll come to see things from my point of view."

"I won't!" Will's shocked at the volume of his voice. "I'm not like you Hannibal! I'm not a monster!"

"Is that all you see me as?"

"You don't exist! I made you up!" Will squeezed his eyes shut. "Go away, you're not real."

"If I don't exist, then who killed your mother?"

A claw wiped a tear away from Will's cheek. 

"You and I are the same."

Will snapped his eyes open, only to find Hannibal gone. No trace of the other boy remained, if only Will's broken heart would reflect the same lack of affect. Whether real or not, Hannibal scarred Will, wasn't that proof enough?

...

Jack wandered inside the office like a bull lost from its herd, presence loud and demanding but confused despite his otherwise stubborn held knowledge that _something_ had to be done. Only he did not know the means or the gravitas that would incite Will to change or have change be forced upon him. Jack's mouth opened and closed, rethinking what he wanted to say. Will is reminded of a fish out of water, gasping at the air, out of it's true element.

Eventually he settled on, "How are you Will?"

Will chuckled mirthlessly at the question, despite himself.

"I'm fine," he answered, leaning against the wood of the desk.

"Are you really? Because I have two witnesses accounts saying they saw you space out in the field before launching yourself into the grave."

"I wanted to see how deep it went," Will drawled sarcastically. "I'd guess at least five feet. Not very deep for a grave, is it?"

"This is serious Will. I need to know if you're stable enough to send out there. I can't have you breaking on me, do you understand that?"

"I do." Will sighed.

Jack scanned his face. Apparently having found an acceptable response in Will's expression, he nodded in approval. Or at least Will thought he had until Jack said, "You're taking some time off. I don't want to see your face around here until you're thoroughly energized and ready to face the crowd."

"Does this crowd speak back or is it the macabre kind?"

"Four days, Will."

"Thank you, Jack," Will said, a bit lost as to what else to say but not wanting to seem ungrateful.

...

He didn't know why he went to the wretched house, but he did. It's still just as small and ugly as he remembered it, only now it had a flowerbed growing in the front, making up for its otherwise daunting exterior, windows and door giving the illusion of a screaming face. Will was shocked to see children bursting from the door. They skipped down the front steps in excitement, waving about wands with colorful strings attached to their ends, blissfully unaware of the horrors that occured in the house all that time ago.

Will took this as his cue to leave before a parent came tumbling out to accuse Will of being a creep.

As he left his childhood house behind, Will marinated in the dark memories the sight of it brought up, scowl now firm along his lips. His route of thinking branched out inevitably to the fonder memories, the ones he spent underneath the shade of a tree hollow, sat beside a gleaming eyed monster child.

He'd partially forgotten about Hannibal...or rather, buried the memory of him. Chalked the boy up to be nothing more than a figment of Will's loneliness, and his depraved, isolated heart.

This depressed the current adult version, disdainfully scolding himself, as he looked up to find himself in the familiar thick of the woods behind his old home. Critters chirped, branches full of lush greenery waved, as if greeting Will and joying at his return after his long time away.

His steps carried him, movements sure and reminiscent until he spotted the back of the tree he spent many days vying to impress his imaginary friend. He never saw Hannibal again after the night of his mother's death, this only convinced Will that he had indeed conjured him up as some sad version of a coping mechanism to alleviate his painful youth.

The wind howled, rattling the branches like a dooming omen. This only hurried Will's steps, wanting to seek shelter in the cave in the wide tree. Though he was sure his adult frame most likely wouldn't fit in it any longer, he wanted to at least see it, find comfort in it one last time before returning to his new place in Wolf Trap and to his job at the FBI. As he turned the corner, a shy smile crept along his otherwise permanent grimace. At long last, he was in the place he considered his true home-

He halted, confused for a moment as to what he was looking at. Amidst the now overgrown moss and carpet of roots intertwining inside the tree's burrow laid two skeletons, still dressed in the garments their flesh once wore. The first was small, bones cracked and now older in age from its exposure in comparison to the second, adult skeleton. Will'd always thought his mother's night gown was rather hideous.

There's only one person capable of such a feat as digging up graves, the same person who ate from his sister's dead body two decades ago the night they first met, Will hidden from the pounding rain and vengeful lightening.

Will looked around him, at lost for words before he yelled Hannibal's name, letting it echo back at him as his voice bounced from tree to tree, from animal to animal, every flower now having heard the sound of Will's remorse, of his forgiveness and yearning to have what he lost returned to him.

...

"It's an old colleague of Alana Bloom's," Jack said in the same tone a teacher tells a grade schooler he can't play outside with the rest because he didn't do his homework. "Look Will," a sigh. "I gave you some time off hoping you'd come back refreshed."

Will wanted to inform Jack that four to five business days could not cure a lifetime's worth of trauma, but he digressed.

"But I feel you've only gotten worse." Will didn't respond to this either, he knew it to be true but refused to give Jack the satisfaction of being right. He instead looked off to the side, a small piece of crumpled trash laid on the ground, having narrowly missed the trashcan it stood beside. "It would do you well, I think, to have someone out there also consulting on the case."

Will drew his eyes to the ceiling at this. Brazenly now having lost his patience Jack straightened his back, jaw set. "He's coming over soon. Be prepared."

This was the only warning Will got before the sound of a door clicking open drew Jack's attention to whomever stood behind will. Jack's features lit up at the same time a low husky voice said, "Apologies for my delay."

"Nonsense," Jack said with a wave of his hand. "You're right on time, Dr. Lecter. Ten minutes early in fact, Will here just happened to arrive even earlier."

Will internally gave a small jump of rejoice at this small achievement he had over Dr.Lecter-or-whatever-the-fuck. With this in mind, the profiler stubbornly glanced down at the desk in front of him, hands clasped atop of it.

The stranger's footsteps walked over to the bulletin where Will knew the pictures of the bodies were displayed in all their gory memorabilia.

"Tell me then, how many confessions?"

"Twelve dozen, the last time I checked-" Jack then went on for a bit before, "-and then Freddy Lounds posted it on Tattlecrime."

"Tasteless," Will muttered.

"Do you have trouble with taste?"

"My thoughts are often not tasty."

"Nor mine. No effective barriers."

"I build forts."

"Associations come quickly."

"So do forts." Will continued to stare ahead, now glaring at a piece of lint on Jack's suit.

"Not fond of eye-contact, are you?"

"Eyes are distracting-" Will fumed silently, bringing his eyes to glance at Dr. Lecter in childish retribution before he stopped in his tracks, mouth falling slightly open before it closed in a snap. "-you see too much." Will takes in every angle, every edge, every curve of his face. Now different with age but still familiar. Still his. "You don't see enough." Hannibal's small quirk of his lips caused a stutter in Will's heartbeat. "And-And it's hard to focus..." Will trailed off, completely having forgotten what he was going to say.

Will silently raised himself from his chair, gathered his things, then barged his way out the door, leaving the two men behind him surprised and at loss for words.

...

The afternoon sky took on a golden hue and bathed Will in its light, letting him enjoy its warmth. He'd never been one for over indulgence of drinking, but in that moment he for the first time felt a kinship with his deceased mother and yearned for a bottle or five.

The sound of approaching footsteps drew Will from his musings.

"You've matured quite beautifully, Will."

"You still act and look as pretentious as always."

A low chuckle escaped the taller man.

"Only now you don't have horns or claws. Or fangs."

Hannibal raised a thin eyebrow in question. Will shrugged. Figures that his imagination had made _some_ part up.

"I always hated when you did that," Will said, smile already unfurled across his lips.

"Did what, Will?"

" _That_."

"I'm merely conversing," Hannibal said as he sat beside Will on his porch.

"How did you find out where I live?" Will was curious but not really worried. He was rather pleased in fact.

"I'd find you anywhere you went, Will. This realm is not as wide as people make it out to be." One of Will's dogs wagged up to Hannibal, nudging his knee with its wet nose. Hannibal glared down at it in poorly concealed disgust. "I see your favorite animal dwells beside you as always."

Will laughed, loud and sincere. "You'll always be my favorite animal, Hannibal."

"If you attempt to pet me I hope you know I won't hesitate to bite you, despite my age."

"Unlike my former self, I think I may enjoy it if you did now." The words were out of his mouth before Will could stop them. He ducked his head in mortification, blush spread hot across his cheeks. Dark eyes watched this pretty bloom of color, always fascinated on its occurrence.

"You know, your ears have always also turned red, you could never shield your emotions fully from me, dear Will."

"Aren't you helpful," Will drawled wryly. He stood up, stretching for a bit. "Would you like to come inside? I can make us dinner, or..."

"Allow me to help," Hannibal offered, before a smirk graced his lips. "Do you want to play house at long last?"

"We never played." Will smiled before they both made their way inside.

**Author's Note:**

> The painting referenced here is Venus in Urbino by Titian.  
> Edit: I think I'll add more to this au.


End file.
